Progressive Grocer More than 100 businesses and trade organizations, including several representing the grocery industry, have formed a coalition in opposition to the border adjustment tax. The coalition, Americans for Affordable Products, will launch a national campaign to inform consumers and explain to legislators that the border adjustment tax, a component of the U.S. House Republican tax reform proposal that would exempt exports from being taxed while taxing imports, will lead to significantly higher-cost everyday items, such as food, gas and clothing. READ MORE

Meat and Poultry News Threats to the world's food supply know no borders, therefore a concerted effort is needed to protect the food chain from diseases and pests, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the World Trade Organization said. To help with this effort, FAO recently released a "toolbox" of emergency prevention methods aimed at protecting lives and livelihoods.READ MORE

USAgNet The National Milk Producers Federation urged the Senate Agriculture Committee to swiftly confirm former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as the next U.S. secretary of agriculture. NMPF and its 29 member cooperatives and numerous state dairy associations joined more than 600 other farm and agriculture groups in a letter endorsing Perdue for the position.
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ReutersMcDonald's Corp. Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said that President Donald Trump's pick to head the Labor Department has a good understanding of entry-level jobs and how big changes in labor costs can affect small businesses.
Easterbrook's remarks are a measure of support for his fellow fast-food executive, Andrew Puzder, whose nomination as labor secretary has met delays and opposition, particularly from the union-backed "Fight for $15" movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.READ MORE

Meat and Poultry News Legislators in Wyoming recently introduced HB 198, a bill that would require country of origin labeling for beef produced in the United States.
The bill was amended to read: "Every retailer and every wholesaler who sells or offers for sale in this state through an establishment or otherwise any beef which is the product of the United States shall clearly label the beef as a product of the United States of America."READ MORE

Agri-PulsePresident Donald Trump said he wants to see the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiated quickly, blasting the current trade pact as unfair to U.S. companies and workers.
"I don't care if it's a renovation of NAFTA or a brand new NAFTA, but we do have to make it fair and it's very unfair to the American worker and very, very unfair to companies that do business in this country," Trump said after meeting a group of lawmakers in the White House. "It's why they're leaving."READ MORE

Food Navigator-USAPresident Donald Trump's executive order requiring new regulations to be offset by the elimination of existing ones could wreak havoc with the pending roll out of long-awaited rules, such as the new dietary ingredient draft guidance, observers say.READ MORE

Food Navigator-USAM&Ms maker Mars has announced it will invest $900 million in its U.S. supply chain in addition to the recent $1 billion investment aimed at boosting its domestic manufacturing capabilities.
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Food Safety NewsJust in time for Valentine's Day, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service has made it OK to use beef hearts in ground beef. It ends an almost 40-year prohibition on the use of hearts and tongues in ground beef. The policy turnaround has caught the beef industry by surprise, with disclosure of whether ground beef is made and sold with beef hearts included not required. That has set off an industry discussion about transparency.
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Food Business News During the past decade, processors have been actively investigating ingredient technologies to reduce the amount of added sodium in meat and poultry products to assist consumers with reducing intake of this essential mineral, which when consumed in excess, may have negative health implications. This is challenging with many products as sodium is a component of numerous ingredients that provide functionality, flavor and even safety to meat and poultry. READ MORE

Food Business News Wheat flour production by U.S. flour mills in 2016 aggregated 425,406,000 hundredweights, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the Agriculture Department. Output last year, which includes durum semolina production, was up 506,000 hundredweights, or 0.1 percent, from 424,900,000 in 2015. The previous high was 424,950,000 hundredweights posted in 2014.
For three consecutive years, U.S. flour production has been locked in place, falling within a fiftieth of one percent of 425,150,000 hundredweights. READ MORE

Agri-ViewWhat are the hot new flavors? Is toast on its way out? Will anything ever really be the new kale?
As the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board examines the top food trends for the coming year, one thing is for sure. Americans really love cheese. According to the Agriculture Department, the average American consumed 35 pounds of cheese in 2016, about a 1-pound increase since 2014. Overall cheese production has increased as well, totaling 1.03 billion pounds as of October 2016, 0.5 percent as compared to the same time period in 2015. READ MORE